Lifted Up
by Pey119
Summary: Sequel to Falling Together In A World Falling Apart. A neverending war continues. The angels started drafting, and the demons kept coming. (complete)
1. Prologue

_AN: Everything throughout the story that is between ~this mark~ is an alternated version of story prompts and stuff on Tumblr. Whatever is between ~this mark~ I don't own. Nor do I own Nico or Will or any of Riordan's characters._

* * *

 **Prologue**

~Who would believe the fantastic and terrible story of our survival?~ Who would believe in such a mythical tragedy? When they looked at the stars, who would think of our feathered wings and star dust breath?

For you were half heaven, half hell. You grew up on an earth spinning towards sin. I, I was what some called holy. I was the sun at dawn, I was the scorching heat on a worker's back. I have ~moon dust in my lungs, stars in my eyes, I am a child of the cosmos and ruler of the skies.~

I am ~judge, jury, and executioner.

You are defendent, plaintiff, and victim. You are the sheriff that watches over his people.

We began as all good love stories should.

Forged in blood, fire, fluorescent lights, fuzzy socks

on waxed, slippery floors.

Shrieks of laughter

and joy.

His heart beats like a drum against mine in sync.

His skin against mine burns like a firework

We explode.

We belong together always

He says, his voice

One of hope.

We don't fall out of love

We implode in the midst of a war.

Meaningful coincidences

You know there is no such thing.

We were built on love and lies

We were a house of cards

Destiny, mistake.~

But it continued on.

~Because I love him,

I do,

And here's the miracle:

he loves me too.

I was allowed

to lick off the color from his lips

to listen to the hymns in his pulse

to bask in the sunlight of his voice.

I was allowed

to have him.

We love each other,

we do,

And here's the tragedy:

it wasn't enough.

I was allowed

to watch the sun swallow him whole and burn him up

to stain my fingers to the bone holding him together

to count the constellations in his eyes as they blink out

I was not allowed

To save him.~

Yet I stood before the All-knowing in the name of love, in the name of justice. I tried to save as much of him as I could. Because he took me in in the name of mercy years before he ended, and he kept me close in the name of love even when my wings began to fail me. Will was everything, was Love itself. He's what I began to live for that day.

~I am coming for all the monsters that ever touched him, I am coming for all the ones who twisted his stars into shadows. They turned him into a nightmare, so I'm going to be theirs.~

Because he used to be called Sunshine, he used to not be stuck in this endless war. But the angels started drafting, and the demons kept coming. His blond hair still caught me off guard. His blue eyes were full of pain.

He died and he thought our story was over. He thought we'd have nothing left to love. But the demon that killed him was of a special class, and he himself was different than any other human. He had killed demons, he had fought in the war before he even saw Heaven's doors.

Will was a soldier. He had finished his training, had gotten his recommendation (I was happy to give), he finally joined the front lines.

Was I sorry for making Sunshine a soldier? No. He became

holy

holy

holy

Our love was meant to be.

He became everything I would ever need.

Why did angels exist?

Love.

What strengtheed us?

To be loved.

What gave us courage?

To be in love.

Our love became

holy

holy

holy

Our souls beat as one.

Fall, rise up. Love. if I could reach anyone, that would be my advice.

Love

Love

Love


	2. Chapter 1

~I am anger. I am hostile. I am fury.

I am fire. I am hatred. I am consuming.~

I watched my love die with a hole in his chest and his blond hair matted in blood. His friends looked to me as if I did the wrong.

~I am a burning fire. I am a violent tongue. I am destructive.~

Will died and I swore to kill any demon who wanted it so. Anger of revenge, revenge of survivors guilt. It made me a warrior.

When I took him up to heaven with the only escort I knew how, he looked at me and on his lips was an apology he never should have said.

~ _I have made the obscene decision to do something unforgivable for the sake of our survival. Listen to me: I was a child who only wanted to heal things~_

His lips tasted like honey. Those words broke my heart. When the show on earth was over and we took our spots before the All-Knowing, I pledged for a human for the first time in my life.

And I begged

to let him become

holy

holy

holy

I wanted to give him another chance to heal.

For I was the soldier, with battered hands and dark eyes. He was the medic, still on the front lines with blood stained hands but a good heart.

I was once guardian angel, he was once human. Change came like a hurricane.

Guardian angel. He became a medic in our holy war. His hands no longer held the blood of the ones he killed.

Archangel. I became a warrior, a soldier, an angel that only existed to fight. I killed all the demons that ever hated my love. ~Now, I grow wings and rage. I learn how to kill.~

We became lovers in a war that would never end. We became partners in a battle that took and killed. We became soulmates in a place one could only be

holy

holy

holy


	3. Chapter 2

I got Will ready for his place, for his role. A guardian angel, he smiled at the thought. A guardian angel, he could help others.

I took him to his first human, looked in his eyes, touched his holy figure.

~What is left in a city like this?

In a city like Rome

Moscow

Los Angeles

What is left besides the holy ground?

Bare your feet

Step into the ring

Let the fire find a home in you.

Shout to the mountains.

Shout with the mountains.

You have blood on your hands

Is it your own?

I don't know

All I know is that it's red

And you're nowhere near dead yet.

Stand up child

Spit your blood

Stain the ceiling with your story

Let this whole city

Hear your knuckles crack

You have found God

Or he has found you

Either way there is something eternal in your veins

Beneath the flouresent lights

The sun flickers

In the wake of your battle cry

They made you into a weapon and told you to find peace

Well this is your piece of heaven

Right here

In the center of a studium of heretics

May your blows echo like prophesy

Upon the chests of those bold enough

To claim arrogance in the face of god

Fight like Genesis, child

Fight like dust and cosmic breath

Fight like Revelations

Like visions that burn your eyes

Like fire burning the sky

This is biblical

Bare your feet

Before you step in the holy ring~

He took his step.

A baby born to two old friends. A baby with dark hair and blue eyes. A baby with two parents who worried about the demons that could touch it.

Will watched over it, used his wings to peotect it. He called when a demon came. I killed.

William Jackson, they called it. An old friend. Will looked down at a namesake and couldn't help but smile.

He wasn't seen by the parents. He wasn't seen by demon fighters. He wasn't seen by anyone but God and I, and I don't know which he likes better.

Or which he hates.

Angels were made from love, I think. Love for peace. And in the name of love, you do anything to protect.

My wings can puncture and kill. My sword can cut the faintest breeze. I kill and kill and kill

Only demons

When they ask for it

But sometimes when they don't


	4. Chapter 3

~I sing in Greek

I pray in Latin

I ache in a language so old that

even the earth no longer remembers;

so dead

that it has returned to dust~

I'm giving this to Will to finish off. Maybe he'd tell the story better. He was there for it all, he protected that little boy as much as he could. I never got to see Percy's kid much. I was to busy killing...or, I should say protecting. That sounds better. They want me to make this sound good.

Here, Will, take them in your hands. Tell the story of blood and death and love. Tell it. Tell how to be

holy

holy

holy

This is me, signing off. This is the last any of you will hear from me until you're up here in the golden light, until you too are holy.

Remember to love. Please. And listen to what Will tells you. And remember to pray and talk to us up here, even if you don't believe fully. Tell us what you're scared of. Tell us what you want and love and hate. Tell us what's

holy

holy

holy

So this is me. This is my soul. Listen to its words, please. Listen to its pleas. This is Nico di Angelo. This is Archangel. This is wings and glory. This is killing. This is

holy

holy

holy

* * *

Nico said to teach you, but I'm not sure how. I don't know if my life is worth teaching.

~I knew that I was dying.

Something in me said

go ahead, die, sleep, become as

them, accept.

Then something else in me said, no,

save the tiniest bit.

it needn't be much,

just a spark.

A spark can set a whole forest on fire.

Just a spark.

Save it~

So I kept going. I lived in another way.

~So don't cry for me.

I died years ago.

Don't cry for me.

I'm finally alive.~

Listen to what Nico said, listen to what I say. Listen to love and hate and everything in between. Take it all in. Make your own choices. Please. Think while it's still legal, think while you still can. Make your own choices.

And listen to this story as it continues. Little Will, namesake, Jackson baby. Take in what it means.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: okay so I hesitated explaining before because it might ruin the story's vibe but there are some people confused. If you're part of the ones that understand then just skip this~**

S **o Will did die at the end of the last fic. He was made into a guardian angel because he had already been fighting demons and because Nico kindof vouched for him. Nico got moved up in rank to an Archangel.**

 **And yes, I know some people debate if this is possible among like the real stuff but this is a fanfiction.**

 **Will's first human to guard is Percy and Annabeth's kid, which they named William after him. The story started in Nico's POV but it switched to Will's halfway through the last chapter.**

 **I hope that cleared some stuff up, let me know if you still have questions~**

* * *

William Jackson didn't quite understand why his parents always had cuts and bruises. He didn't understand why they couldn't see me.

As he grew older, they got more worried.

"They say you're a demon..." His eyes never rested. "But you said you're my angel."

I still didn't understand why he could see me. Nico didn't, either. But we went with it. There was nothing more we could do.

He got older. From him, I watched my friends grow up without me. The demons never stopped chasing them.

He went to school. He came home. He cried when no one was looking.

Why was I given him? Who entrusted me with his life?

I once lived. I once held promise on my fingertips. Coffee, passion, friends and enemies. I can still remember what my heartbeat felt like when I first met Nico.

But now my chest was silent. My ribcage held no more breath. My halo was my only source of life.

Why did they turn me into an angel? To try and save me. Why couldn't I save William? I'll never know.

He was just like Percy in some ways. Bold. Happy. Daring. He lit himself on fire to give others light. I tried to tell him not to, but who would listen to a mere angel?

Will you listen, after seeing everything that's happened?

The end is near. Please be prepared.

William was around eleven when I started seeing myself in him. He fixed his father up after a night of demon killing. He tried to sign up for a job but always got caught. He only lied to his parents when it was good for everyone.

He stopped insisting that I'm real. He stopped looking at me in hopes I would disappear.

I was there when his parents told him about me for the first time. I watched as realization dawned on his face, I saw true horror come from such youth.

He cried himself to sleep.

The youth, the future. He should have been the future. But I knew back then that I'd never see how old age looked on him.

~Some people turn sad awfully young. No special reason, it seems, but they seem almost to be born that way. They bruise easier, tire faster, cry quicker, remember longer and, as I say, get sadder younger than anyone else in the world. I know, for I'm one of them.~

And so was he. I could see it in his eyes, in his movements. Depression had settled into his chest in a cancerous form of disaster. His words got shorter. His movements grew slower.

He was what he'd forever be. I didn't know how to save him.

Maybe some people were just meant to destroy themselves. If a candle didn't burn, we wouldn't have light. If a match wasn't struck, forever ruined, we would be in the dark.


	6. Chapter 5

I knew it was coming to a close when I saw William on his sixteenth birthday. His eyes stared into the candles but held no light. He blew them out but didn't make a wish.

He stopped trying to tell his parents about me. He stopped trying to reason what I was.

Percy and Annabeth had always been good people. It was nice to see them happy, though Annabeth could tell something was wrong with her son. But they were _safe,_ for the time being. They knew how to defend themselves. They were used to it.

It was the day after when I realized that William wasn't ignoring me. He just couldn't see me. Not anymore.

Innocence disappeared with age. His curious eyes turned sad. He didn't bother asking about me because I didn't exist for him. Not anymore.

I was a human. My name had been William Solace. I died in order to save my friends.

Nico had always been an angel. He got his name from a grave. We fell in love one winter afternoon.

I was made into a guardian angel in hopes I could help others. Nico turned into an Archangel because he was a warrior. Our love continued but it would never be simple.

I was told to watch William Jackson. I was there to save him. But one winter night, he slipped his mother's pills. I couldn't do anything no matter how hard I tried.

Why had I been there if I couldn't save him? What was I there to learn?

Everyone has their time, I know. Some people are just meant to die. But why someone so young? Why could I do nothing more than watch?

Some questions will never be answered, so go with this. Remember this.

~ **Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red**.~


End file.
